Ecuadorean official says talks under way with Mexico to create DNA bank to identify migrants

FILE - In this April 8, 2011, file photo, morgue employees take a body, found in a mass grave, from a refrigerated truck into the local morgue in Matamoros, northern Mexico. It was announced on Wednesday, May 13, 2015, that the governments of Mexico and Ecuador are in talks to subscribe an agreement that will allow to identify dozens of Ecuadorean migrants gone missing in Mexico. (AP Photo/Alexandre Meneghini, File)
(The Associated Press)

QUITO, Ecuador – A high-ranking Ecuadorean official says his government is talking with Mexico about establishing a bank of DNA material from some of the migrants from his country who have disappeared trying to reach the United States illegally.

Humberto Cordero, undersecretary for the Community of Returned Ecuadorean Migrants, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the genetic material could help determine if Ecuadoreans are among unidentified remains found in Mexico.

Cordero says Ecuadorean police have sent some DNA to Mexican authorities in the past in the hopes of identifying the remains of migrants.

Mexican authorities did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.

Last year, Ecuador registered 128 cases of migrants who disappeared trying to reach the U.S.

___

Associated Press writer Maria Verza in Mexico City contributed to this report.